A medic and civilians carry a casualty after what activists said were airstrikes followed by shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus. File photo: Reuters

“The civil defense activists have collected the bodies of 17 victims, while more than 25 others were pulled from the rubble and transferred to a field hospital for treatment,” Nasser said.

A medical source in the targeted district told ARA News that activists were searching for victims under the rubble until the midnight on Thursday.

“There are more victims under the ruins of the destroyed buildings but the lack of equipment prevents the activists from rescuing them,” the source said, adding that the injured are in need for intensive care while the field hospital suffers sharp shortage of staff and medicines.

“The death toll will definitely increase in the coming hours if we do not receive the needed supplies urgently,” the source said.

Armed rebel groups are in control of Hammuriyah district. The Syrian regime forces have repeatedly bombed the district and its surroundings in Eastern Ghouta after accusing the rebels of using the area as a basis from which they shell regime-held neighborhoods in central Damascus.